Exxon Mobil Beats Earnings As Sales Decline, Keeps Buying Back Stock

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) has released a mixed earnings report for its third quarter. The oil and gas giant reported earnings of $9.57 billion for the quarter, and that translates to earnings of $2.09 per share. While this is down 7% from a year ago, the report was well ahead of estimates as Thomson Reuters had a consensus estimate of $1.96 EPS. The range of estimates was $1.79 to $2.09 EPS as well, so the report matches the highest estimate on Wall St.

The oil giant said that capital and exploration expenses were $9.18 billion and operating cash flow was $13.4 billion. Production was 2.12 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, but oil equivalent production fell by 7.5% in the quarter. Downstream earnings came in at $3.19 billion and upstream earnings came in at $5.97 billion.

As the largest of the integrated oil and gas players, Exxon is a company that tracks earnings as very few analysts track revenues. It is worth noting that some $5 billion was spent during the quarter to reduce its shares outstanding.

Total revenue was down almost $10 billion from a year ago, but the number is still massive at $115.7 billion in quarterly revenue.

The company's shares are trading down marginally this morning, at $90.50 in a 52-week range of $73.90 to $93.67.